When one of the two long-held Republican congressional seats in Maryland is lost by just 2,100 votes — six-tenths of a percent — many reasons can be found for Andy Harris’ slim loss in the 1st District.
But GOP officials agree on several points: It was a bad year to run as Republican; Democrat Frank Kratovil, the Queen Anne’s state’s attorney who won the race, will face a challenge to hold onto the seat; and Republicans don’t need to change their principles, but stick to them, and govern well on behalf of the citizens.
“This was a perfect storm,” said Anne Arundel County Executive John R. Leopold, who had endorsed veteran incumbent Wayne Gilchrest in the primary, and helped raise money after Harris beat him. “You’ve got an unpopular president; you’ve got serious financial problems.”
“The stars were aligned,” said state Senate Republican Whip Nancy Jacobs, who represents parts of Harford and Cecil County. “It would have been tough for anybody but a Democrat to win that race.”
“In a normal election year, Andy might have prevailed,” said Senate Minority Leader Allan Kittleman. But he added, “The people who have defeated Republicans have defeated them with Republican themes,” running as fiscal conservatives who would cut taxes, as Kratovil did.
Another factor in the Harris loss was the 8,500 votes cast for Libertarian Richard Davis, a Hurlock dentist.
“Andy would have won except for the Libertarian in the race,” said Del. Pat McDonough of Baltimore County. “They should have been talking to that Libertarian” to get him out of the contest.
“In a close election, a lot of things count,” said Michael Cain of the Center for the Study of Democracy at St. Mary’s College of Maryland, and “certainly the Libertarian candidate did.”
In 2010, Kratovil is “definitely going to have a challenge,” McDonough said, though the House leadership that helped elect him will allow Kratovil “to take a hike” on key votes that might hurt him.
“Governing well is the best recipe for campaign success,” said Leopold, who plans to seek reelection in 2010. “We have to focus on solutions that improve the qualities of people’s lives,” rather than on “rigid, unyielding orthodoxy.”
“I don’t see that the party is in dire straits,” said Harford County Executive David Craig, who expected to run again in a county that gave Harris a 10,000-vote margin. “We just need to get back to basics” with increased registrations and local campaigning, and need to focus on “party building at the local level,” particular supporting local candidates.
He noted that two Republicans won as Cecil County commissioners, replacing two Democrats in a county Kratovil carried.
“Being effective while you’re in office” is the best way to succeed, Craig said. “We don’t need to reinvent ourselves.”
Sen. Bryan Simonaire, a first-term Republican in an Anne Arundel County district long represented by a Democrat, said, “We should not just be focusing on what we’re against, but what we’re doing for education, for health care.
“I believe people are looking for politicians to stand up for them first and foremost,” Simonaire said.
Jacobs said, “Party to me right now has got to take a back seat to getting things done and turning the economy around.” She wants Republicans at the state level to play a part “in helping to solve the fiscal crisis the state is in.”
